My Projects: bancassurance

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The aim of this project is to introduce the reader to the topic of “THE BANCASSURANCE”.Theis project deals with many banks and insurance.The Banking and Insurance industries have changed rapidlyinthe changing and challenging economic environment throughout theworld.In this competitive and liberalized environment everyone is trying to do better than others and consequently survival of the fittest has comeinto effect.

I would like to present my project “BANCASSURANCE”(an emerging concept in India).The project flashes some light on Bancassurance and how it is perceivedby people in India. It deals with the conceptual part of Bancassurance as well as its practical application in India. The main focus of this project is on benefits and importance of Bancassurance in India.The regulations governing Bancassurance areal so dealt with in this project.SWOT analysis is also done so as to identify the various opportunities and threats for Bancassurance in India.

PREFACE

OBJECTIVES

Ø To present Bancassurance & how does it works.

Ø To present the services of the Bancassurance offered to the customer.

Ø To show how the Bancassurance deals with customer complaints.

Ø To explain the scope , success & powers of the Bancassurance .

METHODLOGY

The methodology includes the information of the features of the Bancassurance in the form of primary data that had been received from the Branch Managers of the banks and the officers of the LIC. It also includes the information’s from the related books & the related websites.

.CHAPTER 1

HISTORY OF BANKING

IN INDIA.

HISTORY OF INSURANCE

IN INDIA.

BANKING

1. Introduction:-

Banking has become a part and parcel of our day-to-day life. Today, banks offer an easy access to a common man. They carry out variety of functions apart from their main functions of accepting deposits and lending. Banking is a service industry. Banks provide financial services to the people, business and industries. Merchant banking, money transfer, credit cards, ATM's are some of the important financial services provided by the modern banks.

Indian banking system, over the years has gone through various phrases after establishment of RBI in 1935 according to RBI Act,1934 , during British rule, to function as Central Bank of the country. Earlier Central Bank's functions were being looked after by the Imperial Bank of India.

The development of 'Banking’ is evolutionary in nature. There is no single answer to the question of what is Banking. Because a bank performs a multitude of functions and services which cannot be comprehended into a single definition. For a common man, a bank is a storehouse of money, for a businessman it is an institution of finance and for a worker it may be a depository for his saving.

It may be explained in brief as "Banking is what a bank does". But it is not clear enough to understand the subject in full The Oxford dictionary defines a bank as "an establishment for the custody of money which it pays out on a customer's order'. But this definition is also not enough, because it considers the deposit lending and repayment functions only. The meaning of a bank can be understood only by its functions just as a tree is known by its fruits, As any other subjects, it has its own origin, growth and development.

Ø Evolution:-

It is interesting to trace the origin of the word ‘Bank’ in the modern sense to the German word "Banck" which means, heap or mound or joint stock fund. From this, the Italian word "Banco" meaning heap of money was coined.

Some people have the opinion that the words "bank” is derived from the French words, "bancus" or "banque" which means a "bench". Initially the bankers, the Jews in Lombardy, transacted their business on benches in the market place and bench resembled the banking counter.

Ø Development of Banking in India:-

Banking in India is indeed as old as Himalayas, but the banking functions became an effective force only after the first decades of 20^th century. To understand of the history of modem banking in India. One has to refer to the English "Agency Houses" established by the East India Company, These Agency Houses, were basically trading firms and carrying on banking business as part of their main business. Because of this dual functions and lack of their own capital they failed and vanished from the scene during the third decade of 18^th century.

2. Meaning and Definition of banks:-

A bank is an institution which deals in money and credit.Thus, bank is an intermediary which handles other people's money both for their advantage and to its own profit. But banks are not merely a trader in money but also an important manufacturer of money. In other words, a bank is a factory of credit.

According to 5(b) defines banking as "accepting for the purpose of lending or investment of deposits of money from the public, repayable on demand or otherwise and withdrawals by cheque, draft and order or otherwise". Section 5 (1) (c) defines banking company as "Any company which transacts the business of banking in India".

The Oxford Dictionary defines a bank as "an establishment for the custody of money, which it pays out on a customer's order".

Section 5(c) of Banking Regulation Act,1949 has been defined banking as,"One which transacts the business of banking which means the accepting for the purpose of lending or investment of deposits of money from the public, repayable on demand or otherwise and withdrawable by cheque, draft, order or otherwise”.

Ø Features of banking:-

The following are the essential features of banking,

(1) Dealing in money :-

The banks accept deposit from the public and advance them as loans to the needy people. The deposits may be of different type -current, fixed and savings accounts. The deposits are accepted on various terms and conditions.

(2) Withdrawals Deposits:-

The deposits (other than fixed deposits) made by the public can be withdrawals by cheques, draft or otherwise i.e. the bank issue and pays cheques. The deposits are usually withdrawal on demand,

(3) Dealing with credit:-

The banks are the institutions that can create credit i.e. creation of additional money for lending. Thus, creation of credit is the unique feature of Banking

(4) Commercial in Nature:-

Since all the banking functions are carried on with the aim of making profit, it is regarded as a commercial institution.

(5) Nature of an agent:-

Besides the basic functions of accepting deposits and lending money as loans, banks possess the character of an agent because of its various agency services.

4. Main Functions of Banks:-

The following are the main functions of banks…

I. Accepting Deposits:-

Tapping the savings of the public by means of deposits in one of the major functions of a bank. When a bank accepts deposits, it is said to borrow money, as a borrower, the bank has to safeguard its position. Therefore before opening an account a bank has to observe certain general precautions. Every deposit is the property of the bank. The bank is responsible for the safety of the deposit. A bank may its discretion in allowing or not allowing a person to deposit and it cannot be questioned.

II. Lending Money:

Banking is essentially a business dealing with money. A bank has to invest funds in different was to earn income. The bulk of income is derived from lending funds, Banks provide loans and advances to traders, industrialists against the security of some assets, They also advance loans to the people on personal security. In both the cases the banks run the risk of default in repayment. Therefore, the banks have to follow a sound lending policy. Banks in India have responsibility of fulfilling social obligations. Therefore, in order to protect their own interest as well as national interest the following principles should be followed by the banks.

INSURANCE

1.Introduction:-

Risk is there at every walk of life, risk also endangers life itself. In the same way all financial deals, as well as possession of money & property goods etc are fraught with the element of risk. For an example, money may be stolen, or goods robbed or destroyed or an employee may misappropriate. A man may be killed in an accident or may die of a fatal disease. The loss arising out of these risks may be quite substantial and in extreme cases, it may be so heavy that business may be crippled. The businessman and the owners of the property discovered that if they got together and contributed a relatively small amount to a common pool, the total amount so contributed would be sufficient to compensate any of them for the loss arising due to such causes.

All risks do not actually occur at all times and hence it imposable to calculate probable chances of any particular risk materializing. It is quite that all the people do not face risks at the same time, thus, the transfer of risk to another i.e. the insurer is in fact a pooling of risks. If insurance did not exist, each individual would have to bear the losses on his own. Insurance in effect means that each one in the pool undertakes to bear a portion of the loss. Such an agreement has proved to be advantageous to everyone as it is uncertain as to who suffer the loss.

Insurance is a financial service for collecting the saving of the public and proving them with risk coverage. The main function of Insurance is to provide protection against the possible chances of generating loss. It eliminates worries and miseries of losses by destruction of property and death. It also provides capital to the society as the funds accumulated are invested in productive heads.

Ø Principles of Insurance:-

An insurance contract made without due consideration to these principles is treated as void, not enforceable by law these principles are as follows:-

· Principles of Utmost Good Faith:-

One of the basic & primary principles of insurance is utmost good faith. It states that insurance contract must be made in absolute good faith on the part of both the parties. The insured must give to the insurer complete, true & correct information about the subject matter of the insurance.

Material fact should not be hidden on any ground. This principle is applicable to all types of insurance contracts. Insurance is for protection & not for profit & hence correct information must be given to the insurance company.

· Principle of Insurable Interest:-

This principle suggests that the insured must have insurable interest in the object of insurable. A person is said to have such interest when the physical existence of the object of insurance gives him some gain but which he is likely to lose by its non-existence.

In other words, the insured must suffer some kind of financial loss by the damage to the subject matter of insurance. Ownership is the most important test of insurance interest. Every individual has insurable in his own life. Insurance contracts without insurable interest are void, Insurable interest is not a sentimental concepts but a pecuniary interest.

· Principle of Indemnity:-

This is one important principle of insurance, This principle suggests that insurance contract is a contract for affording protection and not for profit making. The purpose of insurance is to secure compensation in care of loss or damage. Indemnity means security against loss, The compensation will be paid in proportion to the loss actually occurred. This amount of compensation in the insurance contract is limited to the amount assured or the actual loss whichever is less. The compensation will not be more or less than the actual loss.

· Principle of Subrogation:-

This principle is an extension and a corollary of the principle of indemnity. It is applicable to all the contracts of indemnity, It is applicable to all rights and remedies which the assured would have enjoyed regarding the said loss. When the compensation is paid for the total loss, all the rights of the insured in respect of the subject matter of insurance are transferred to the insurer. The assured will not realize more than the actual loss suffered.

· Principle of Contribution:-

There is no restriction as to the number of times the property can be insured. But on the occurrence of the loss can be realized from one insurer or all the insurers together, This principle is, however, not applicable to life insurance contract.

· Mitigation Loss:-

According to this principle every insured should all the necessary steps to minimize the loss. E.g. if a trader takes out a marine policy for the goods being shipped from Goa to Mumbai and if the storm takes place due to which there takes might be risk of ship sinking. According to this principle, the ship can be saved by throwing away some of the goods in order to reduce the weight on the ship.

· Risk must Attach:-

The subject matter should be exposed to risk, e.g. for goods placed in godown marine, insurance policy cannot be taken. However, goods may be insured against fire or theft.

· Causa Proxima:-

The principle of causa proxima means that when a loss has been caused by the series of causes, the proximate or the nearest cause should be taken into consideration to determine the liability of the insurer. The principle states that to ascertain whether the insurer is liable for the loss or not, the proximate and not the remote cause must be looked into. For an example, a cargo ship got a hole, due to negligence of the master and as a result sea water entered and cargo was damaged.

2.Essential of contract of Insurance:-

Like other contracts, the contract of insurance has the

following

a) There must be an agreement between two parties who are competent to enter into a contract.

b) The agreement must be in writing and the parties must give free consent to terms and conditions.

c) The event must be subject to risk or otherwise it will amount to betting.

d) The event must also involve some element of uncertainty either as regards in time or with respect to its occurrence,

e) The risk should not to very small.

f) The cost of insurance should not be prohibitive. Low cost can be achieved if the number of risks insured is larger.

CHAPTER 2

ABOUT

BANCASSURANCE

1.Introduction:-

v What is Bancassurance?

Bancassurance, i.e., banc + assurance, refers to banks selling the insurance products.

Official definition of Bancassurance: According to IRDA, ‘Bancassurance’ refers to banks acting as corporate agents for insurers to distribute insurance products. Insurance Products include Life or Non-Life products

Bancassurance in India is defined as those banks which are dealing in insurance products of both life and non-life type in any forms.

The term "bancassurance" was coined in the 1980"s in France. Bancassurance is defined as the distribution of insurance products through banks. In addition to the branches of banks, this medium of distribution also includes new distribution systems. Such as electric banking operation, ATM's etc. Although the term bancassurance may also be used for distribution of banking products through insurance companies, this is sometimes termed "assurbanking" in some countries. Bancassurance has been most successful in Europe, mainly due to the regulatory and tax environment.

In France alone, banks conduct more than 60% of the insurance business. In the rest of Europe, business through bancassurance amounts to 45% of the total insurance business while, in the US where bancassurance began only a decade back, it amounts 5% of the total insurance transactions.

Both insurers as well as bankers view the cross selling relationship involved in bancassurance as part of a long term strategy. Accordingly, they are adapting themselves organizationally. So, as achieve the long term bancassurance goals in the best possible manner. In some countries, banks have either acquired or set up their own insurance product manufacturing capacity. In some cases, insurance companies have acquired smaller banks.

Bancassurance in its simplest form is the distribution of insurance products through a banks distribution channels. It is the provision of insurance and services through a common distribution channel or through a common base.

Banks with their geographical spreading penetration in terms of customer reach of all segments, have emerged as viable sources for the distribution of insurance products, It takes various forms in various countries depending upon the demography and economic and legislative climate of that country. This concept gained importance in the growing global insurance industry and its search for new channels of distribution.

v Birth of Bancassurance in India:

As per March 2008, the number of Insurance companies in India,

Life Insurance Companies	15 Private Insurance Companies
	1 Public Insurance Company (LIC)
Non- life Insurance Companies	9 Private Insurance Companies
	4 Public Insurance Company

As regarding the present size of the insurance market in India, it is stated that India accounts not even one per cent of the global insurance market. However, studies have pointed out that India’s insurance market is expected to grow rapidly in the next 10 years. Insurance industry in India for fairly a longer period relied heavily on traditional agency (individual agents) distribution network, Therefore, the zeal for discovering new channels of distribution and the aggressive marketing strategies were totally absent and to an extent it was not felt necessary.

As the insurance sector is poised for a rapid growth, in terms of business as well as number of new entrants’ tough competition has become inevitable. Consequently, addition of new and number of distribution channels would become necessary.

v Origin:-

The banks taking over insurance is particularly well-documented with reference to the experience in Europe. Across Europe in countries like Spain and UK, banks started the process of selling life insurance decades ago and customers found the concept appealing for various reasons. Germany took the lead and it was called “ALLFINANZ”. The system of bancassurance was well received in Europe. France taking the lead, followed by Germany, UK, Spain etc. In USA the practice was late to start (in 90s). It is also developing in Canada, Mexico, and Australia. In India, the concept of Bancassurance is very new. With the liberalization and deregulation of the insurance industry, bancassurance evolved in India around 2002.

v Definition:-

Bancassurance in its simplest form is the distribution of insurance products through the banks distribution channels. In concrete terms, bancassurance which is known as All finance constitutes a package of financial services that can fulfill both banking and insurance needs, at the same time. The motives behind bancassurance also vary. For banks, it is the means of product diversification and source of additional fee income while Insurance companies see it, as a tool for increasing their market penetration and premium turnover. The customer sees bancassurance as a bonanza in terms of reduced price, high- quality product and delivery at the doorsteps.

v Objectives:-

Banking and insurance have more commonality in the basic nature of their business. Banking and insurance relay on pulling on resources to protect financial security (Banking) or to protect against adverse events (Insurance), Banking and Insurance are often complimentary, as it the case of mortgages, that require both finance and property insurance.

In Insurance, the initial expenses because of distribution costs are high and regulatory disclosure requirements are applying additional pressure, on the insurers to reduce the costs. Distribution expenses being a major of initial expense, insurers are focused to think on alternate channels of distribution and banks have a lot of common practices to integrate to achieve economies of scale,

2.Entering into bancassurance:

v Ways of entering into bancassurance :

There is no single way of entering into bancassurance which is “best” for every insurer and every bank. As in all business situations, a proper strategic plan drafted according to the company’s internal and external environmental analysis and the objectives of the organization is necessary before any decision is taken.

There are many ways of entering into bancassurance. The main scenarios are the following:

– One party’s distribution channels gain access to the client base of the other

party. This is the simplest form of bancassurance, but can be a “missed opportunity”. If the two parties do not work together to make the most of the deal, Then there will be at best only minimum results and low proﬁtability for both parties.

If, however, the bank and the insurance company enter into a distribution agreement, according to which the bank automatically passes on to a friendly insurance company all “warm leads” emanating from the bank’s client base, this can generate very proﬁtable income for both partners. The insurance company sales force, in particular usually only the most competent members of the sales force, sells its normal products to the bank’s clients. The cooperation has to be close to have a chance of success. For the bank the costs involved –besides those for basic training of branch employees – are relatively low.

–A bank signs a distribution agreement with an insurance company, under which the bank will act as their appointed representative. With proper implementation this arrangement can lead to satisfactory results for both partners, while the ﬁnancial investment required by the bank is relatively low. The products offered by the bank can be branded.

– A bank and an insurance company agree to have cross shareholdings between them. A member from each company might join the board of directors of the other company. The amount of interest aroused at board level and senior management level in each organization can inﬂuence substantially the success of a bancassurance venture, especially under distribution agreements using multidistribution channels.

– A joint venture: this is the creation of a new insurance company by an existing bank and an existing insurance company.

– A bank wholly or partially acquires an insurance company. This is a major undertaking. The bank must carefully deﬁne in detail the ideal proﬁle of the targeted insurance company and make sure that the added beneﬁt it seeks will materialize.

– A bank starts from scratch by establishing a new insurance company wholly owned by the bank. For a bank to create an insurance subsidiary from scratch is a major undertaking as it involves a whole range of knowledge and skills which will need to be acquired. This approach can however be very proﬁtable for the bank, if it makes underwriting proﬁts.

– A group owns a bank and an insurance company which agree to cooperate in a bancassurance venture. A key ingredient of the success of the bancassurance operation here is that the group management demonstrate strong commitment to achieving the beneﬁt.

– The acquisition (establishment) of a bank that is wholly or partially owned by an insurance company is also possible. In this case the main objective is usually to open the way for the insurance company to use the bank’s retail banking branches and gain access to valuable client information as well as to corporate clients, allowing the insurance company to tap into the lucrative market for company pension plans. Finally, it offers the insurance company’s sales force bank product diversiﬁcation (and vice versa). This form is used in many cases as a strategy by insurance companies in their effort not to lose their market share to bancassurers.

The best way of entering bancassurance depends on the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and on the availability of a suitable partner if the organization decides to involve a partner. Whatever the form of ownership, a very important factor for the success of a bancassurance venture is the inﬂuence that one party’s management has on that of the other. An empowered liaison between respective managements, with regular senior management contacts, as well as sufficient authority to take operational and marketing decisions, is vital. Regular senior management meetings are also a vital element for a successful operation. There must be a strong commitment from the top management to achieving the aims in the business plan.

3.Bancassurance Models

I. Structural Classification:

a) Referral Model:

Banks intending not to take risk could adopt ‘referral model’ wherein they merely part with their client data base for business lead for commission. The actual transaction with the prospective client in referral model is done by the staff of the insurance company either at the premise of the bank or elsewhere. Referral model is nothing but a simple arrangement, wherein the bank, while controlling access to the clients data base, parts with only the business leads to the agents/ sales staff insurance company for a ‘referral fee’ or commission for every business lead that was passed on. In fact a number of banks in India have already resorted to this strategy to begin with. This model would be suitable for almost all types of banks including the RRBs /cooperative banks and even cooperative societies both in rural and urban. There is greater scope in the medium term for this model. For, banks to begin with resorts to this model and then move on to the other models.

b) Corporate Agency;

The other form of non-risk participatory distribution channel is that of ‘corporate agency’, wherein the bank staff is trained to appraise and sell the products to the customers. Here the bank as an institution acts as corporate agent for the insurance products for a fee/ commission. This seems to be more viable and appropriate for most of the mid-sized banks in India as also the rate of commission would be relatively higher than the referral arrangement. This, 144 RESERVE BANK OF INDIA OCCASIONAL PAPERS however, is prone to reputational risk of the marketing bank.

There are also practical difficulties in the form of professional knowledge about the insurance products. Besides, resistance from staff to handle totally new service/product could not be ruled out. This could, however, be overcome by intensive training to chosen staff packaged with proper incentives in the banks coupled with selling of simple insurance products in the initial stage. This model is best suited for majority of banks including some major urban cooperative banks because neither there is sharing of risk nor does it require huge investment in the form of infrastructure and yet could be a good source of income.

Bajaj Allianz stated to have established a growth of 325 per cent during April September 2004, mainly due to bancassurance strategy and around 40% of its new premiums business (Economic Times, October 8, 2004). Interestingly, even in a developed country like US, banks stated to have preferred to focus on the distribution channel akin to corporate agency rather than underwriting business. Several major US banks including Wells Fargo, Wachovia and BB &T built a large distribution network by acquiring insurance brokerage business. This model of bancassurance worked well in the US, because consumers generally prefer to purchase policies through broker banks that offer a wide range of products from competing insurers (Sigma, 2006).

c) Insurance as Fully Integrated Financial Service/ Joint ventures:

Apart from the above two, the fully integrated financial service involves much more comprehensive and intricate relationship between insurer and bank, where the bank functions as fully universal in its operation and selling of insurance products is just one more function within. Where banks will have a counter within sell/market the insurance products as an internal part of its rest of the activities. This includes banks having a wholly owned insurance subsidiary

With or without foreign participation. In Indian case, ICICI bank and HDFC banks in private sector and State Bank of India in the public sector, have already taken a lead in resorting to this type of bancassurance model and have acquired sizeable share in the insurance market, also made a big stride within a short span of time.

II. Product-based Classification

A) Stand-alone Insurance Products:

In this case bancassurance involves marketing of the insurance products through either referral arrangement or corporate agency without mixing the insurance products with any of the banks’ own products/ services. Insurance is sold as one more item in the menu of products offered to the bank’s customer, however, the products of banks and insurance will have their respective brands too, e.g., Karur Vysya Bank Ltd selling of life insurance products of Birla Sun Insurance or non-life insurance products of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance company.

B) Blend of Insurance with Bank Products:

With the financial integration both within the country and globally, insurance is increasingly being viewed not just as a ‘stand alone’ product but as an important item on a menu of financial products that helps consumers to blend and create a portfolio of financial assets, manage their financial risks and plan for their financial security and well being (Olson 2004). This strategy aims at blending of insurance products as a ‘value addition’ while promoting its own products. Thus, banks could sell the insurance products without any additional efforts. In most times, giving insurance cover at a nominal premium/ fee or sometimes without explicit premium does act as an added attraction to sell the bank’s own products, e.g., credit card, housing loans, education loans, etc. Many banks in India, in recent years, has been aggressively marketing credit and debit card business, whereas the cardholders get the ‘insurance cover’ for a nominal fee or (implicitly included in the annual fee) free from explicit charges/ premium. Similarly the home loans / vehicle loans, etc., have also been packaged with the insurance cover as an additional incentive.

III) Banks Referrals

There is also another method called 'Bank Referral'. Here the banks do not issue the policies; they only give the database to the insurance companies. The companies issue the policies and pay the commission to them. That is called referral basis. In this method also there is a win-win situation everywhere as the banks get commission, the insurance companies get databases of the customers and the customers get the benefits.

As already discussed, warm leads can provide a strong competitive advantage for a bancassurance operation. An efficient system for managing referrals of warm leads is therefore vital. This section describes a process for managing referrals.

CHAPTER 3

UTILITIES

BANCASSURANCE

FOR BANKS

I) As a source of fee income:

Banks’ traditional sources of fee income have been the fixed charges levied on loans and advances, credit cards, merchant fee on point of sale transactions for debit and credit cards, letter of credits and other operations. This kind of revenue stream has been more or less steady over a period of time and growth has been fairly predictable. However shrinking interest rate, growing competition and increased horizontal mobility of customers have forced bankers to look elsewhere to compensate for the declining profit margins and Bancassurance has come in handy for them. Fee income from the distribution of insurance products has opened new horizons for the banks and they seem to love it.

From the banks’ point of view, opportunities and possibilities to earn fee income via Bancassurance route are endless. Atypical commercial bank has the potential of maximizing fee income from Bancassurance up to 50% of their total fee income from all sources combined. Fee Income from Bancassurance also reduces the overall customer acquisition cost from the bank’s point of view. At the end of the day, it is easy money for the banks as there are no risks and only gains.

II) Product Diversification:

In terms of products, there are endless opportunities for the banks. Simple term life insurance, endowment policies, annuities, education plans, depositors’ insurance and credit shield are the policies conventionally sold through the Bancassurance channels. Medical insurance, car insurance, home and contents insurance and travel insurance are also the products which are being distributed by the banks. However, quite a lot of innovations have taken place in the insurance market recently to provide more and more Bancassurance-centric products to satisfy the increasing appetite of the banks for such products. Insurers who are generally accused of being inflexible in the pricing and structuring of the products have been responding too well to the challenges (say opportunities) thrown open by the spread of Bancassurance. They are ready to innovate and experiment and have setup specialized Bancassurance units within their fold. Examples of some new and innovative Bancassurance products are income builder plan, critical illness cover, return of premium and Takaful products which are doing well in the market. The traditional products that the

III)Building close relations with the customers:

Increased competition also makes it difficult for banks toretain their customers. Banassurance comes as a help in this directionalso. Providing multiple services at one place to the customers meansenhanced customer satisfaction. For example, through bancassurance acustomer gets home loans along with insurance at one single place as acombined product. Another important advantage that bancassurance brings about in banks is development of sales culture in their employees.Also, banking in India is mainly done in the 'brick and mortar' model,which means that most of the customers still walk into the bank branches.This enables the bank staff to have a personal contact with their customers. In a typical Bancassurance model, the consumer will haveaccess to a wider product mix - a rather comprehensive financial services package, encompassing banking and insurance products.

FOR INSURANCE COMPANIES

I)Stiff Competition:

At present there are 15 life insurance companies and 14general insurance companies in India. Because of the Liberalization of the economy it became easy for the private insurance companies to enter into the battle field which resulted in an urgent need to outwit oneanother. Even the oldest public insurance companies started facing thetough competition. Hence in order to compete with each other and to staya step ahead there was a need for a new strategy in the form of Bancassurance. It would also benefit the customers in terms of wide product diversification.

II)High cost of agents:

Insurers have been tuning into different modes of distribution because of the high cost of the agencies services provided by theinsurance companies. These costs became too much of a burden for many insurers compared to the returns they generate from the business. Hencethere was a need felt for a Cost-Effective Distribution channel. This gaverise to Bancassurance as a channel for distribution of the insurance products.

III)Rural Penetration:

Insurance industry has not been much successful in rural penetration of insurance so far. People there are still unaware aboutthe insurance as a tool to insure their life. However this gap can be bridged with the help of Bancassurance. The branch network of bankscan help make the rural people aware about insurance and there is alsoa wide scope of business for the insurers. In order to fulfill all theneeds bancassurance is needed.

IV)Multi channel Distribution:

Now a days the insurance companies are trying to exploit eachand every way to sell the insurance products. For this they are usingvarious distribution channels. The insurance is sold through agents, brokers through subsidiaries etc. In order to make the most out of India’s large population base and reach out to a worthwhile number of customers there was a need for Bancassurance as a distribution model.

V)Targeting Middle income Customers:

In previous there was lack of awareness about insurance. Theagents sold insurance policies to a more upscale client base. Themiddle income group people got very less attention from the agents.So through the venture with banks, the insurance companies canrecapture much of the under served market. So in order to utilize thedatabase of the bank’s middle income customers, there was a need feltfor Bancassurance.

CHAPTER 4

REGULATIONS

FOR

BANCASSURANCE

INDIA

1.REGULATIONS FOR BANCASSURANCE IN INDIA:

RBI Guidelines for the Banks to enter into Insurance Business:

Following the issuance of Government of India Notification dated August 3, 2000, specifying ‘Insurance’ as a permissible form of business that could be undertaken by banks under Section 6(1)(o) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, RBI issued the guidelines on Insurance business for banks.

1. Any scheduled commercial bank would be permitted to undertake insurance business as agent of insurance companies on fee basis, without any risk participation. The subsidiaries of banks will also be allowed to undertake distribution of insurance product on agency basis.

2. Banks which satisfy the eligibility criteria given below will be permitted to set up a joint venture company for undertaking insurance business with risk participation, subject to safeguards. The maximum equity contribution such a bank can hold in the joint venture company will normally be 50 per cent of the paidup capital of the insurance company. On a selective basis the Reserve Bank of India may permit a higher equity contribution by a promoter bank initially, pending divestment of equity within the prescribed period (see Note 1 below).

The eligibility criteria for joint venture participant are as under:

i. The net worth of the bank should not be less than Rs.500 crore;

ii. The CRAR of the bank should not be less than 10 per cent;

iii. The level of non-performing assets should be reasonable;

iv. The bank should have net profit for the last three consecutive years;

v. The track record of the performance of the subsidiaries, if any, of the concerned bank should be satisfactory.

3. In cases where a foreign partner contributes 26 per cent of the equity with the approval of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority/Foreign Investment Promotion Board, more than one public sector bank or private sector bank may be allowed to participate in the equity of the insurance joint venture. As such participants will also assume insurance risk, only those banks which satisfy the criteria given in paragraph 2 above, would be eligible.

4. A subsidiary of a bank or of another bank will not normally be allowed to join the insurance company on risk participation basis. Subsidiaries would include bank subsidiaries undertaking merchant banking, securities, mutual fund, leasing finance, housing finance business, etc.

5. Banks which are not eligible for ‘joint venture’ participant as above, can make investments up to 10% of the net worth of the bank or Rs.50 crore, whichever is lower, in the insurance company for providing infrastructure and services support. Such participation shall be treated as an investment and should be without any contingent liability for the bank.

The eligibility criteria for these banks will be as under :

i. The CRAR of the bank should not be less than 10%;

ii. The level of NPAs should be reasonable;

iii. The bank should have net profit for the last three consecutive years.

6. All banks entering into insurance business will be required to obtain prior approval of the Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank will give permission to banks on case to case basis keeping in view all relevant factors including the position in regard to the level of non-performing assets of the applicant bank so as to ensure that non-performing assets do not pose any future threat to the bank in its present or the proposed line of activity, viz., insurance business. It should be ensured that risks involved in insurance business do not get transferred to the bank and that the banking business does not get contaminated by any risks which may arise from insurance business. There should be ‘arms length’ relationship between the bank and the insurance outfit.

CHAPTER 5

BENEFITS

BANCASSURANCE

Benefits of Bancassurance

The company is targeting around 10%of the business during its startup phase. Bancassurance makes use of various distribution channels like salaried agents, bank employees, brokerage firms. Direct response, Interest etc. Insurance Companies have complementary strengths. In their natural and traditional roles Bancassurance if of great benefit to the customer. It leads to the creation of one- stop where a customer can apply for mortgages, pensions, savings and insurance products. The customer gains from both sides as costs get reduced. Bancassurance for the customer is a bonanza in terms of reducing charges, a high quality product and delivery at the doorstep.

Both insurance companies and banks have certain competitive advantages.

v Banks enjoy the following advantages over insurance companies.

1) Most banks have strong brand name. The Bank's physical presence in the public areas is an added reassurance to the people. In an old - fashioned way, people like to see that the insurer remains within sight, over the years.

2) Their relationship with their customer is based on trust.

3) Banks have a wide network of branches which constitute an excellent distribution channel.

4) Banks own the financial transaction history of their customer. This allows them to build detailed profiles of every single customer using data management techniques. They can then devise individually tailored products to meet the specific needs of each customer, SBI Life, for example, is planning to go in for bancassurance. It has access to same 117 million Term Deposit holders, through 14,000 branches of the State Bank of India.

5) Banks are also known for proving a complete range of services. A research study conducted among insurers revealed that around 33% of the respondents felt that retail customers were likely to buy multiple financial service product from Banks compared to this, less than 20% of the respondents felt that retail customer would approach insurers or brokers for purchasing such products. Banks like Stan Chart have consolidated its retail services under a super Mail, which takes care of personal service finance needs like mutual funds, demat services and loans against shares. For the bank, offering insurance products would just be another way of extending the relationship with the retail consumer.

v Insurance Companies enjoy the following advantages over insurance companies.

The benefits to the insurers are equally convincing. The ability to tap into banks’ huge customer bases is a major incentive. The extensive customer base possessed by banks is considered to be ideal for the distribution of mass-market products. On the other hand, insurers can make use of the wide reach of bank customers to categorise potential clients in detail according to their needs and values. With increasing sophistication on bancassurance operations, some insurers can focus on the high-net-worth segment, which offers greater potential for wealth management business.

Apart from the ability to tap into new customers groups, escaping from the high cost of captive agents is another reason prompting insurers to look into alternative channels. In some cases, teaming up with a strong bank can help to fund new business development and boster public confidence in the insurer.

In a nutshell, insurers are attracted to bancassurance because they can:

- Tap into a huge customer base of banks;

- Reduce their reliance on traditional agents by making use of the various channels owned by banks;

- Share services with banks;

- Develop new financial products more efficiently in collaboration with their bank partners;

- Establish market presence rapidly without the need to build up a network of agents;

- Obtain additional capital from banks to improve their solvency and expand business.

There are different organizational structures under which banks can work together with insurers, including distribution agreements, joint ventures ore some integrated operations. It is then only logical to presume that different motivations will drive the choice of different organizational models

v Consumers :

Unlike with banks and insurers, where benefits of bancassurance will have to be weighted against business risk, the positive impacts on consumers are unequivocal. Part of the lowering of distribution costs will be passed on to clients in the form of lower premium rates. In addition, it is likely that new products will be developed to better suit client needs, which otherwise may not be available if banks and insurers worked independently. Examples are overdraft insurance, depositors’ insurance and other insurance covers sold in conjunction with existing bank services. The convenience offered by bancassurance should also increase customer satisfaction, for instance, when it is possible to pay premium as well as to withdraw and repay

cash loans backed by life insurance policies through bank’s ATM s. Just as important, is more than often a strategic step of financial service providers to shift from being product-oriented and to focus on distribution and customer relations.

v Regulators

Bancassurance poses major challenges to regulators. The ability of financial institutions to diversify into others sectors should help to lower the level of latent systemic risk. Banks will benefit from lower income volatility while insurers could potentially obtain additional capital to bolster their solvency levels.

CHAPTER 6

DISTRIBUTION

CHANNELS

Distribution Channels

Traditionally, insurance products were promoted and sold principally through agency systems only. The reliance of insuranceindustry was totally on the agents. Moreover with the monopoly of public sector insurance companies there was very slow growth in theinsurance sector because of lack of competition. The need for innovativedistribution channels was not felt because all the companies relied only upon the agents and aggressive marketing of the products was also notdone. But with new developments in consumers’ behaviours, evolution of technology and deregulation, new distribution channels have beendeveloped successfully and rapidly in recent years. Recently Bancassurers have been making use of variousdistribution channels, they are:

1)Career Agents:

Career Agents are full-time commissioned sales personnelholding an agency contract. They are generally considered to beindependent contractors. Consequently an insurance company canexercise control only over the activities of the agent which are specifiedin the contract. Many bancassurers, however avoid this channel, believingthat agents might oversell out of their interest in quantity and not quality.Such problems with career agents usually arise, not due to the nature of this channel, but rather due to the use of improperly designedremuneration and incentive packages.

2)Special Advisers:

Special Advisers are highly trained employees usually belonging to the insurance partner, who distribute insurance productsto the bank's corporate clients. The Clients mostly include affluent population who require personalised and high quality service. UsuallySpecial advisors are paid on a salary basis and they receive incentivecompensation based on their sales.

3)Salaried Agents:

Salaried Agents are an advantage for the bancassurers becausethey are under the control and supervision of bancassurers. Theseagents share the mission and objectives of the bancassurers. These aresimilar to career agents, the only difference is in terms of their remuneration is that they are paid on a salary basis and career agentsreceive incentive compensation based on their sales.

4)Bank Employees / Platform Banking:

Platform Bankers are bank employees who spot the leads inthe banks and gently suggest the customer to walk over and speak with appropriate representative within the bank.

The platform banker may be a teller or a personal loan assistant. A restriction on theeffectiveness of bank employees in generating insurance business isthat they have a limited target market, i.e. those customers whoactually visit the branch during the opening hours.

5)Corporate Agencies and Brokerage Firms:

There are a number of banks who cooperate with independentagencies or brokerage firms while some other banks have foundcorporate agencies.

The advantage of such arrangements is theavailability of specialists needed for complex insurance matters andthrough these arrangements the customers get good quality of services.

6)Direct Response:

In this channel no salesperson visits the customer to induce asale and no face-to-face contact between consumer and seller occurs.The consumer purchases products directly from the bancassurer byresponding to the company's advertisement, mailing or telephoneoffers. This channel can be used for simple packaged products whichcan be easily understood by the consumer without explanation

7)Internet:

Internet banking is already securely established as an effectiveand profitable basis for conducting banking operations. Bancassurers canfeel confident that Internet banking will also prove an efficient vehicle for cross selling of insurance savings and protection products. Functionsrequiring user input (check ordering, what-if calculations, credit andaccount applications) should be immediately added with links to theinsurer. Such an arrangement can also provide a vehicle for insurancesales, service and leads.

8)E-Brokerage:

Banks can open or acquire an e-Brokerage arm and sellinsurance products from multiple insurers. The changed legislativeclimate across the world should help migration of bancassurance inthis direction. The advantage of this medium is scale of operation,strong brands, easy distribution and excellent synergy with the internetcapabilities.

9)Outside Lead Generating Techniques;

One last method for developing bancassurance eyesinvolves "outside" lead generating techniques, such as seminars, directmail and statement inserts. Great opportunities await bancassurance partners today and, in most cases, success or failure depends on precisely how the process is developed and managed inside eachfinancial institution.

CHAPTER 7

SBI Life Insurance (profile)

Products offered

SBI Life Insurance (perspective)

State bank of India Life Insurance

SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture between theState Bank of IndiaandCardif SAof France. SBI Life Insurance is registered with anauthorized capital of Rs 1000 crore and a paid up capital of Rs 500crores. SBI owns 74% of the total capital and Cardif the remaining 26%.

State Bank of India enjoys the largest banking franchise in India.Along with its 7 Associate Banks, SBI Group has the unrivalled strengthof over 14,500 branches across the country, arguably the largest in theworld. Cardif is a wholly owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas, which is theEuro Zone’s leading Bank. BNP Paribas is one of the oldest foreign bankswith a presence in India dating back to 1860. Cardif is ranked 2ndworldwide in creditor’s insurance offering protection to over 35 million policyholders and net income in excess of Euro 1 billion. Cardif has also been a pioneer in the art of selling insurance products throughcommercial banks in France and in 35 more countries.

SBI Life Insurance’s mission is to emerge as the leading companyoffering a comprehensive range of Life Insurance and pension products atcompetitive prices, ensuring high standards of customer service andworld class operating efficiency.SBI Life has a unique multi-distributionmodel encompassing Bancassurance, Agency and Group Corporate.

SBI Life extensively leverages the SBI Group as a platform for cross-selling insurance products along with its numerous banking product packages such as housing loans and personal loans. SBI’s access to over 100 million accounts across the country provides a vibrant base for insurance penetration across every region and economic strata in the country ensuring true financial inclusion.Agency Channel, comprising of the most productive force of morethan 25,000 Insurance Advisors, offers door to door insurance solutions tocustomers.

Products Offered by SBI

Individual Products:

A)Unit Linked products:

1)SBI Life - Horizon II :

SBI Life-Horizon II is a unique, non participating UnitLinked Insurance Plan in Indian Insurance Industry, where you need to bea financial market expert. This plan offers the flexibility of Unit LinkedPlan along with Automatic Asset Allocation which provides relativelyhigher returns on your money where as increasing death benefits provide higher security to your family

2)SBI Life - Unit Plus II :

This is a non participating individual unit linked product. It provides unmatched flexibility to match the changingrequirements. It provides choice of 5 investments funds in a single policy

3)SBI life- unit plus child plan:

SBI LIFE understand you better and hence have developedSBI Life - Unit Plus Child Plan to suit you and your needs best. ThisPlan is meant for parents in the age group of 18-57 having a child between the age group of 0-15 years.

B. Pension Products;

SBI Life - Horizon II Pension:

A unique Unit Linked Pension Plan that will enable thecustomers to build a kitty good enough to enable them to spend a peaceful and financially sound, retired life.

SBI Life - Horizon IIPension is a safe and hassle free way to get high returns. It comeswith the unique feature of Automatic Asset Allocation by means of which you truly, don’t need to be an expert to grow your money.

1) SBI Life - Unit Plus II Pension:

SBI Life understands the basic needs for pension plan andgive the customers financial strength to maintain the life style evenafter the retirement.

This is a unit linked pension plan wherein the policyholder chooses an investment period from 5 to 52 years for avesting age between 50 to 70 years. They can choose to pay either single premium or pay regular premium for the entire policy term.Their contributions are invested into 4 fund options as per their choice.

2)SBI Life - Lifelong Pensions:

It is a pension plan wherein the policyholder gets theflexibility to meet the post retirement financial needs. It also providestax benefits. The policyholder also has the option of withdrawing alump sum amount up to particular limit.

3) SBI Life - Immediate Annuity:

SBI Life - Immediate Annuity Plan is introduced for Pension Policyholders. This product provides annuity paymentsimmediately from payment of purchase price. It has been speciallydesigned to cater to the annuity needs of existing policyholders (SBILife - Lifelong Pensions, SBI Life - Horizon II Pension, SBI Life -Unit Plus II Pension) at the vesting age.

C) Pure Protection Products

1)SBI Life – Swadhan;

This is a Traditional Term Assurance Policy with guaranteedrefund of basic premium .Life cover is provided at no cost. Tax benefitis also provided. There is also a rebate on high sum assured. There isalso flexible benefit premium paying mode.

2)SBI Life – Shield:

It offers the customers with the life insurance cover at thelowest cost for a selected term. Tax benefit is also provided. There isalso rebate on modes of premium payment.

3)SBI Life – Shield as a Keyman Insurance Policy:

A Keyman insurance policy is taken to protect the organizationagainst the reduction in profit resulting from the death of theKeyman. As per IRDA circular only Pure Term Assurance Productsmay be used as a Keyman Insurance. The SBI Life Insurance provides “SBI Life – Shield” as a Keyman Insurance Policy.

D)Protection cum Savings Products

1) SBI Life – Sudarshan:

SBI Life - Sudarshan is an Endowment Policy designed to provide savings and protection to the policyholder and their family.They can save regularly for the future. Thus at the end of the plan, hewill receive a substantial amount of savings along with theaccumulated bonuses declared. At the same time, his family will be protected for death risk for the full Sum Assured.

2)SBI Life - Scholar II;

Twin benefit of saving for the child's education and securing a bright future despite the uncertainties of life.Option to receive theinstallments in lump sum at the due date of first installment of Survival benefit.

E)Money back scheme products

1) SBI Life - Money Back :

It is a Traditional Saving Plan with added advantage of lifecover and guaranteed cash inflow at regular intervals. The plan has anumber of money back options specially suited to the customersneeds. The cover is available at competitive premium rates.

2)SBI Life - Sanjeevan Supreme:

It is a Traditional Saving Plan which offers a life cover for the term of the customer’s choice at the same time does not burdenhim with liability to pay premiums for the entire term and also provides cash flows at regular intervals.

SBI Life Insurance Company (perspective)

SBI Life insurance, a joint venture between State Bank of India,the largest bank in the country and bancassurance major Cardiff of France. SBI’s stake in the venture is 74% whereas Cardiff has 26% share.They have launched many products so far incorporating certain featuresthat are introduced for the first time in the country. SBI -Life is bankingon the bancassurance model on the strength of the SBI Groups 10000 plus bank branches and its vast customer base. In addition it is alsotapping other. banks corporate agents and the traditional agency route to penetrate the insurance market SBI Life is planning to introduce morenovel and user friendly products to cater to the requirements of theconsumers in different segments.

SBI has the largest banking network in the county. The bank islooking for business from every customer segment of the bank rural andurban segments, upper, middle and lower income segments /groups andcorporate segment. Besides their own channels they are planning todistribute products through other interested banking channels also. It isexpected that 2/3 rd of the premium income in expected to come by way of bancassurance and the rest from the traditional agency channel as wellas ties up with corporate agents (Sundaram Finance). SBI has alsointroduced group insurance to some well managed corporate staffs.

Technology is an integral part of this operation. Cardiff provided the technology required. The project was initiated in April 2004,and the initial roll-out was completed by August 2004.SBI Life hasimplemented an Internet-centric IT system with browser-based front-office and back-office systems, channel management, policy productdetails, online premium calculator and facility for group insurancecustomers to view their individual savings status on the Web. Theorganization has the facility to pay premiums through credit cards, Net banking, standing instructions, etc. This is fully integrated with the coresystems through industry standards such as XML, EDI, etc.Even as it plans to scale up operations shortly, SBI LifeInsurance Company Ltd is looking at tripling its gross premium incomein the new financial year.In 2007-08, SBI Life earned a total premiumincome of Rs 5,622 crore, of which income from new policy sales was Rs4,800 crore. For the current financial year, their target is to achieve a total premium income of Rs 10,500 crore and a first year premium income of Rs 8,500 crore”. The SBI Life ranks second in terms of market shareamong private life insurers in the country.

SBI Life Insurance Company is the first among the 14 lifeinsurance companies in the private sector to post a net profit in 2005-06.There are life insurance players much more aggressive than SBI and theyhave still not been able to break the record of SBI. Their success islargely on the channel strategy and product strategy. The another aspect istheir superior investment performance. They have consistently, over thelast two years, generated 11-12 per cent earnings from the investments.SBI Life Insurance is uniquely placed as a pioneer to usher bancassurance into India. The company hopes to extensively utilize theSBI Group as a platform for cross-selling insurance products along withits numerous banking product packages such as housing loans, personal loans and credit cards. SBI’s access to over 100 million accounts providesa vibrant base to build insurance selling across every regionandeconomic strata in the country.

CHAPTER 8

VARIOUS

TRENDS

CHALLENGES

TRENDS

Though bancassurance has traditionally targeted the mass market, but bancassurers have begun to finely segment the market, whichhas resulted in tailor-made products for each segment. Some bancassurers are also beginning to focus exclusively ondistribution.

In some markets, face-to-face contact is preferred,which tends to favour bancassurance development. Nevertheless, banks are starting to embrace direct marketing andInternet banking as tools to distribute insurance products. New andemerging channels are becoming increasingly competitive, due to the tangible cost benefits embedded in product pricing or throughthe appeal of convenience and innovation.

Bancassurance proper is still evolving in Asia and this is still ininfancy in India and it is too early to assess the exact position.However, a quick survey revealed that a large number of bankscutting across public and private and including foreign banks havemade use of the bancassurance channel in one form or the other inIndia.

Banks by and large are resorting to either ‘referral models’ or ‘Corporate agency model’ to begin with. Banks even offer space in their own premises to accommodate theinsurance staff for selling the insurance products or giving accessto their client’s database for the use of the insurance companies.As number of banks in India have begun to act as ‘corporateagents’ to one or the other insurance company, it is a common sightthat banks canvassing and marketing the insurance products acrossthe counter.

CHALLENGES

Increasing sales of non-life products, to the extent those risks areretained by the banks, require sophisticated products and risk management. The sale of non-life products should be weightedagainst the higher cost of servicing those policies.

1)Bank employees are traditionally low on motivation. Lack of salesculture itself is bigger roadblock than the lack of sales skills in theemployees. Banks are generally used to only product packagedselling and hence selling insurance products do not seem to fitnaturally in their system.

2)Human Resource Management has experienced some difficulty dueto such alliances in financial industry. Poaching for employees,increased work-load, additional training, maintaining themotivation level are some issues that has cropped up quiteoccasionally. So, before entering into a bancassurance alliance, justlike any merger, cultural due diligence should be done and humanresource issues should be adequately prioritized.

3)Private sector insurance firms are finding ‘change management’ inthe public sector, a major challenge. State-owned banks get a newchairman, often from another bank, almost every two years,resulting in the distribution strategy undergoing a complete change.So because of this there is distinction created between public and private sector banks.

4)The banks also have fear that at some point of time the insurance partner may end up cross-selling banking products to their policyholders. If the insurer is selling the products by agents aswell as banks, there is a possibility of conflict if both the banks andthe agent target the same customers.

CHAPTER 9

SWOT

ANALYSIS

Bancassurance in - A SWOT Analysis:-

Strength :

Bancassurance can be a of fire way to reach a wider customer base, provide it is made use of sensibly. In India there is an extensive bank network established over the years. Insurance companies will have to take advantage of the customer's longstanding trust and relationship with banks. This is mutually beneficial situation as Banks can expand the range of their products on offer to customers and earn more, while the insurance company profits from the exposure at the bank branches, and the security of receiving timely payments.

There are several untapped potential waiting to be mined particularly for life insurance products in rural areas. Banks with their network in rural areas, help to fulfill rural and social obligations as stipulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.

There are several reasons why bank should seriously consider bancassurance., the most important of which is increase Return on Assets(ROA).It offers fee-based non -interest income to the banks without involving in any amount does not require any additional capital.

Weakness :

The bancassurance calls for a paradigm shift in the behavior of the banks, which have to develop marketing skills. Most of the banks lack adequate marketing skills to perform these additional responsibilities. At the same time, there is a need for banks to be sensitive to customers of preferences.

Bancassurance could turn out be an example channel as it requires huge investments in Wide Area Network (WAN) and Vast Area Network (VAN) to meet customer's needs on order to finalize a sale. Another drawback is the inflexibility of the products that is it cannot be tailor- made to the requirements of the customers. For bank assurance venture to success, it is extremely essential to have in -built flexibility of the products that is it cannot tailor-made to the requirements of the customers. For a bank assurance venture to succeed, it is extremely essential to have an in-built flexibility so as to make the product attractive to the customer.

Opportunities :

Banks database is enormous and they have a wide branch network. Millions of customer become accessible to insurance companies through bank branches. This database has to be dissected variously and various homogeneous groups are to be churned in order to position the bank assurance products.

New private sector insurance companies are yet to become popular. They are in existence for less than five years. In a short period, to appoint agents all over the country and effectively follow them would be an uphill task. They are in the process of building brand equity. Tie up with Bank will help them to boost their image and provide great opportunity for insurance as in as Bank, In this process is bank will also benefits.

Customers have more faith in Banks and they view those Banks as more responsible than individual agents. Moreover, agents may not be available for further services, But customers can approach the bank at any time and paying the premium is easier with Bank because of standing instructions.

Threats:

Even insurance and Bank that seem ideally suited for a bank assurance partnership can run into problems during implementation. Success of a bancassurance venture requires change in approach, thinking and work culture on the part of everybody involved.

The most common obstacles to success are manpower management, lack of sales culture within the bank, non-involvement by managers, insufficient product promotions, failure to integrate marketing plans, marginal database expertise, inadequate incentives, a definite threat of resistance to change, negative attitudes towards insurance and unwieldy marketing strategy.

CHAPTER 10

v SOME TIE-UPS

v SUCCESS

BANCASSURANCE

Some important Tie- ups:-

1) Life Insurance Corporation of India with:-

Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Centurion Bank, Satara District Central Cooperative Bank, Janata Urban Co operative Bank, Yeotmal Mahila Sahkari Bank, Vijaya Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce.

2) Birla Sum Life Insurance Co Ltd With:

The Bank of Rajasthan, Andhra Bank, Bank of Muscat, Development Credit Bank, Deutsche Bank and Catholic Syrian Bank.

3) Dabur CGU Life Insurance Company Private Ltd:-

Canara Bank Lashmi Vilas Bank, American Express Bank, and ABN Amro Bank.

4) HDFC standerd Life Insurance Co. Ltd. With:-

Union Bank of India.

5) ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd. With:-

Lord Krishna Bank, ICICI Bank, Bank of India, Citibank, Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, and Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank.

6) Met Life India Co. Ltd. With:-

Karnataka Bank, The Dhanalakshmi Bank and Jammu & Kashmir Bank.

7) SBI Insurance Co. Ltd. With:-

State Bank of India and Associate Banks.

8) Bajaj Allianz General Insurance with:-

Krur Vysya Bank and Lord Krishna Bank

9) National Insurance CoLtd With:-

City Union Bank,

10) Royal Sundaram General Insurance Company with:-

Standard Chartered Bank, ABN Amro Bank, Citibank Amex and Repco Bank.

11)United India insurance Co. Ltd. With:-

South Indian Bank.

Success of Bancassurance

Banking and insurance have strong similarities that might have contributed to their rapprochement, LIC and other insurance companies have developed a range of products, that have direct conflict with traditional bank offering or products.

New companies in Life Insurance sector would be looking for cost effective channels for distribution which provide long reach. Because of the existing extensive obviously emerged as the preferred low cost distribution channel. This would also give the hold to, insurance companies in the rural areas, thus providing an opportunity to tab the virgin market.

Banks have large client base and cross selling surely provides with an opportunity for optimum utilization of their existing customer relationship thus effectively creating a win- win situation company and the operational difficulties at ground level have to be managed and one of the suggested ways is to re- structure the bank compensation structure on the lines of insurance companies.

Last but not the least, the issue of consumer protection will have to be suitably addressed by Regulators and consumers themselves. Consumers though have consumer Protection Act to inhibit banks and insurance co mpanies to show monopolistic properties or use them as an arm twisting techniques. Though all said and done, Regulators both IRDA and RBI should jointly formulate a policy and process not to avoid the conflict of interest.

Measures to Improve Bancassurance in India:

1) Factors that are critical for success include strategies consistent with Banks vision, knowledge of target customer's defined sales process for introducing insurance services, simplest yet complete product offerings, strong service delivery mechanism, quality administration, synchronized planning, all business lines and subsidiaries, complete integration of insurance with other business products and services, expensive and high-quality training of sales personnel.

2) Another critical point to be tackled is customer service(CRM). Bank should implement Customer Relationship Management(CRM) strategies to handle the customers tactfully.

3) Bank should act as financial adviser to the customers in the portfolio decisions and also assist them in early claim settlement.

4) Bank and insurance company should work jointly towards a model global retail financial institution offering a wide array of products which leads to creation of one-stop shop for mortgages, pensions, and insurance products.

CONCLUSION

The life Insurance Industry in India has been progressing at a rapid growth since opening up of the sector. The size of country, adverse set of people combined with problems of connectivity in rural areas, makes insurance selling in India a very difficult task. Life Insurance Companies require good distribution strength and tremendous man power to reach out such a huge customer base.The concept of Bancassurance in India is still in its nascent stage, but the tremendous growth and the potential reflects a very bright future for bancassurance in India.

With the coming up of various products and services tailored as per the customers needs there is every reason to be optimistic that bancassurance in India will play a longinning.But the proper implementation of bancassurance is still facing so many hurdles because of poor manpower management, lack of callcenters, no personal contact with customers, inadequate incentives toagents and unfullfilment of other essential requirements.

I have experienced a lot during the preparation of the project. I had just a simple idea about Bancassurance. But after a detailed research in this topic, I have found how important bancassurance can be for bankers,insurers as well as the customers. I am contented that all my objectives have been met to its fullest.I have also experienced that though Bancassurance is not being utilized to its fullest but it surely has a bright future ahead. India is at the threshold of a significant change in the way insurance is perceived in the country. Bancassurance will definitely play a defining role as alternative distribution channel and will change the way insurance is soldin India. The bridge has been reached and many are beginning to walk those cautious steps across it. Bancassurance in India has just taken a flyingstart. It has a long way to go ……….. after all The SKY IS THE LIMIT!


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BOOKS REFERRED

1. Innovations in Banking and Insurance -Romeo. S. Mascarenhas

2. Indian Banking -R. Parameswaran

3. Insurance Marketing

4.Insurance watch.

5.Business world.

6.Business today.

7.Theories and Practices in Insurance.

www.insuremagic.com

www.google.com

www.sbilife.com

www.indiainfoline.com

ANNEXURES

Exihibit11.7

Bancassurance: An Effective channels

The Asia-pacific markets have been adopting successful European ways and customizing it to the local conditions. Bancassurance is such attempt, which is gaining popularity in Asia, more particularly India. The opening up of local insurance has initiated changes in the way insurance products are distributed. A cursory look at the players who are entering into the insurance sector would highlight the fact that they are mainly from the financial sector and more particularly banks, Banks though do not have operational experience in insurance and, therefore, see potential in utilizing all assets-customer, employee and physical asset in insurance to augment revenue potential.

The driver for new players tapping of banks for distribution is their eagerness to reach a critical mass of business within a time. LIG,GIC and its subsidiaries during their monopoly days invested heavily in setting up of branch network though some of the decisions were not necessarily out of business considerations. But there is absolutely no doubt that by tapping banks, insurance companies could build a mass base of customer through the extensive branch network of approximately 85,000 bank branches, of which more 50 per cent is situated in the rural areas.

Bancassurance could be one way for players to take on the might of the public sector players who have set up their own extensive branch network, Bancassurance would also facilitate insurance companies to shift focus from highly competitive markets to markets where the competition has not yet caught up.

The success of bancassurance would depend on banks and insurance companies crossing many hurdles, While there is much type about regulatory issues, many banks and insurance companies have not thought about the implementation issues associated with bancassurance steps have been taken to address regulatory concerns and the time has come for them to focus on other operationalising issues. Issues related to the operationasation of bancassurance agreement are many and depends on the current state of parties to the agreements: banks and insurance companies on one hand, some of the issues relating to customer ownership and impact of the deficiencies in insurance products on existing relationship have not been clearly understood by many banks.

Similarly, insurance companies are yet to find a way to imbibe insurance culture at the grass-roots level. Bank branch are expected to assist customers in the claim settlement process since the agent is traditionally looked upon a provide this service. One more issue, which arise in bancassurance is whether banks will act as corporate agents or brokers in the distribution of the insurance products. The answer, of course, will lie in whether banking companies will like to be loyal to one principal and in doing so, will not assume a larger responsibility including those of mis-selling or they are loyal to their customers and work towards identifying suitable products for them.

( Source: The Financial Express, 21 January 2002 )

My Projects

Tuesday, 26 February 2013

bancassurance

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